Help for Refugees

It’s disappeared from the news, but did you know that there are still many hundreds of homeless,hopeless people living rough in the outskirts of Calais and Dunkirk, and several thousand sleeping rough in Paris and Brussels?

As Europe continues to turn a blind eye to the crisis of refugees in limbo- unable to claim asylum (often due to interminable legal barriers) or unable to return home (due to continued violence and lawlessness) it has fallen to grass-roots organisations set up by volunteers to provide desperately needed humanitarian aid- such as water, food, clothing and shelter- surely basic human rights?

Wadebridge and Cornwall Refugee Aid was set up in 2015. Our local group collects clothing, blankets, tents, food and other supplies which we box up and take in a van to Calais about four times a year. There we link up with Care4Calais at a distribution centre in Calais where volunteers, young and old, from many different countries, sort and deliver aid to refugees in Calais and Dunkirk, where they shelter in woods, parks and building sites.

FAST (First Aid Support Team) is made up of medics and nurses who provide basic first aid support by driving around the areas where refugees sleep and offering cold and flu remedies, washing and dressing of wounds or treatment of trench foot or scabies.

Several other groups of volunteers work hard to provide humanitarian care, such as Refugee Community Kitchen which provides twice daily hot meals to thousands of stranded people, and Mobile Refugee Support which takes out supplies, and charges phones for people hiding in the woods- a vital lifeline.

Come and visit the display at St Tudy Church where donations can be left: